YO...
It’s kind of crazy that you’re
reading this right now, because
that means that my team and
I really made this magazine
possible. Like you’re actually
holding a physical copy of
“Mixtape Magazine” in your
hand… that’s crazy. Maybe it
doesn’t seem like a big deal, but
for a girl who has plenty of ideas
in her head but didn’t have the
confidence to pursue them,
this coming to life on campus
is a triumph. Usually, the Letter
From the Editor has a connection
of what the main points of the
issue are, but I really wanted to
take the time on this FIRST issue
to thank everyone who was
a part of this.
I thank our advisor,
Gwendoyln Pough, who had to
deal with my “last minute” ass,
and Agnes Humphrey-Copes,
who had my name in her inbox
every other day. Also, thank you
to every single general body
member who came out to our
meetings. I would like to thank
the models, the writers, and the
research team who provided
the content that made this
magazine possible. But I would
be tripping if I didn’t specifically
thank my E-Board. That’s fam
and I appreciate you guys for
taking your roles seriously and
committing to this project that
was built off of me being petty...
but what’s new? So Regina,
Ja’Lisa, Larry, Dina, Kemet, and

4 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

Destinee, we may not always
agree (mostly Larry), and our
group chat is way too active (also
mostly Larry), but I have love for
y’all for making this a real thing
and I can’t wait for us to get
bigger and better and to leave
our mark on this campus. You
guys are appreciated.
Now, for you readers,
“Mixtape Magazine” is here
to stay so join the wave or get
left. This is a magazine about
hip-hop created by students who
love hip-hop. We are the first to
do this and it’s long overdue.
We did this because it had to be
done, so enjoy it my friends.
A word of advice: always trust
and pursue your ideas on and
off this campus. They can turn
into something beautiful.
Nothing but Love,

Dina Ben-Nissan
Photo Executive
Beauty Behind the
Madness
Kemet High
Community Engagement
Black on Both Sides

Destinee Andrews
Historian
Perfect Angel
5

representation
of women in
hip-hop
By Leslie Gomez

photo: fashiolista.com

R

uby Rose recently said (in response to Kanye’s
controversial lyrics about Taylor Swift) that she
could not be a Kanye fan while also being a feminist. As a
woman and also avid lover of music, specifically hip-hop,
I believe there is a misrepresentation of women. But this
is a problem throughout all of media in today’s society
with the varying definitions of perfection. We know to
expect that stereotypical video vixen in every music
video that plays a rappers love interest, and we always
think the same thing: “Damn, is that how I am expected
to look?”. So, I understand where Ruby Rose is coming
from, because it is a valid point.
However, the music lover inside me is quick to defend
hip-hop for the simple fact that it is, indeed, possible
to be both a feminist and a fan of the music. People
tend to be hyper-sensitive about women’s sexuality onscreen. That is not to say that every song in this genre

6 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

misrepresents women, but for the ones that do, people
believe that those women are being objectified. To that I
say, we as music listeners have the power to choose what
messages we want to consume from our favorite artists.
We can accept that a figure like Nicki Minaj is talented
and powerful artist, not just a woman with a fat ass. We
can appreciate the music for what it’s worth when quality
artists produce it. We have the power as equal part
consumers to men in this genre to not listen to artists
that degrade women and instead turn towards more
conscious rap. In the entertainment industry, people
will do anything for the shock appeal, and let’s face it,
sex sells. This is something that does not only need to
change in hip-hop, but instead our society as a whole,
so to ostracize just this genre for the misrepresentation
won’t fix the bigger issue.

I Miss The Old Kanye
By Regina Cho

I’d like to thank all of the dry ass sandwiches out there. Without y’all, there
would be no Miracle Whip. Without Miracle Whip, Kanye would have nothing to compare a mayonnaise-colored Benz to. Without that line, Jay Z’s eyes
wouldn’t have lit up. The rest is history. Since then, we’ve gotten seven classic
solo albums and a generation of fearless rappers. At the end of the day, moisturizing your sandwich is key and nothing’s ever promised tomorrow today.

Kanye
West

was flying over
my fucking head. I swear I
looked up and that man was
flying. I had no idea that when
I was welcomed into heaven, it

would be by a red-leather-wearing black man singing “can we
get much higherrrrrrr?” Life
was surreal.
I still consider that first
Kanye concert to be the best
day of my entire life. Eh, I guess
shit like holding my little sister

for the first time or getting
accepted to Syracuse University
has to be pushed down to 2nd
and 3rd respectively on my
“Life Changing Moments” list
now. I snapped back to reality.
Oh, he ain’t flying. He just on
crane. Also, I wasn’t exiting the
7

Earth’s stratosphere. I was
actually in the (now bankrupt)
Revel Ovation Hall in Atlantic
City, New Jersey back in 2012.
That concert was absurdly lit.
However, present day, right at
this very moment, my cracked
iPhone screen is spazzing like
crazy with notifications as
Kanye West goes off on another
nonsensical Twitter rant. I
actually roll my eyes so far back
that I get a headache. How did
we get here?
There’s absolutely no verbal,
physical, or written medium
that could register how much
appreciation I have for Kanye
West and all he has done. We
are all blessed, y’all. We could’ve
been born at any time between
now and the Cenozoic Era but
we somehow are alive at same
time as Kanye West? That’s a
phenomenon within itself. For
any artist to receive a co-sign
from Kanye is equivalent to
Richard Pyror telling you your
punchlines are fire. I could
choose to front and say that I’ve
been listening to Ye since the
day I was born and that he was
the first rapper I ever knew. He
really wasn’t. Regardless, he is
the artist I love the most. This
journey with him has been a
roller coaster though.
From the jump, we knew
Kanye was a sample sovereign
and lyrical mastermind because
he proved that right from his
debut. For a lot of us, Kanye is
the one we grew up listening
to. He’s been there while we
learned to love hip-hop. He
was the one that said shit that
people were afraid to say. He
attacked the power up top and
had the talent to back himself
up. Even if he isn’t your favorite,
8 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

he has undoubtedly influenced
your current favorite in some
way. His impact is simply
immeasurable. “College Dropout” and “Late Registration”
encompass his soulful era that
remains unparalleled. Hip-hop
will always remember that genuine sound each track had along
with those instrumentals that
were so complexly simple and
honest. Man, that shit really
changed my life. Kanye already
did early on in his career that
other artists will never be able
to achieve. He was just spitting
such real and unapologetic shit
and complementing those flows
with his genius infusion of
beats that glorified old classics.
Even if you didn’t actually drop
out of college, Kanye’s story
was something most people
could relate to. It’s what we all
needed to hear to take that leap
of faith and follow our gut.
“Graduation” was fun. It was a
celebration. It was so uplifting.
This was the one with the hits
that were arguably a bit easier to
digest. It was easy for people to
love Kanye during this time.
“808’s and Heartbreaks”
caught many people off guard.
It was so daring that it actually
raised concerns. In retrospect,
this album captures Kanye’s life
essence the most. This is not to
say that his whole life is a cold
departure from reality using an
artistically poignant upheaval.
Hardly. Instead, I see 808’s as a
representation of his life because
it was far ahead of its time, and
that’s what Kanye always has
been all throughout his life:
ahead.. of everyone.
I firmly believe “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” was
Kanye’s prime. He hit every

“I firmly
believe ‘My
Beautiful
Dark
Twisted
Fantasy’
was
Kanye’s
prime.”
song on the head lyrically while
he showed off how much he has
matured in his sense for production. It was, in many ways,
very deserving of the “Album of
the Decade” claim. The night
“Cruel Summer” dropped, there
was a meet and greet in NYC. I
waited on line for like 18 hours
next to musty strangers in a
hurricane just so I can be in the
same room as Kanye’s team in
hopes that one of them would
smell like his cologne. My love
and support was at an alltime high.
Call it typical, but “Yeezus”
signaled my decline. I approached its stylistic deviation
in the way I did with 808’s,
thinking “maybe I’ll ‘understand’ it later?” It undoubtedly
had a few gems, such as “Bound
2” and “Blood On the Leaves”,
but my heart just wasn’t in this
one and I hated the way that
felt. It was like waiting all year
to go home to eat your mom’s
greatest dish she promised, but
she forgot the seasoning. I really
tried to love it but there was just
something missing and it was
gone for good.
Kanye has always been about

more than just the music and
to say that he’s “just a rapper”
is a gross understatement. It’s
tricky because his dive into the
fashion world should make me
happy solely due to knowing
that’s something he wanted to
do for his entire life and it’s
simply a dream come true. But
them oversized crewnecks and
clunky boots are just reminders
that he’s rapidly retracting on all
those down-to-earth values he
spent so much time preaching
to us about. Similarly, I have
no doubt in my mind that Kim
Kardashian
is, indeed, the
love of his life.
I believe it, but
along with her
came the cameras, glitz and
glamour. He started his journey
as a musician by hammering us
with how we can’t be enslaved
to this luxurious lifestyle
that society tells us we need,
but now he’s out here selling
cheese-grated knit sweaters for
thousands of dollars that none
of us can afford. This, along
with his increasingly misogynistic Twitter jabs, unnecessary
fixation with taking down Nike
and relentless rants (instead of
actions) about shit that pisses
him off, just push me to believe
he’s becoming the person he
said he never would become..

When “The Life of Pablo”
dropped, I came to terms
with many things. In his older
albums, every verse hit. They hit
me in the core. In TLOP, I can’t
name more than three songs
that made impacts lyrically. This
is the man that is considered to
be one of the most lyrically clever and ground-breaking rappers
of all time and the most memorable line on his latest project is
about bleached assholes. Don’t
get me wrong! The production
on TLOP is utterly phenomenal and sonically adventurous;

yet unfortunate. It seems like
he forgot about where he came
from. It’s not about speaking
up for the people that needed
a voice anymore. It’s not about
growing up as a Black kid
from the Chi with a dream so
intense that he locked himself
in his room every day making
beats five beats a day for three
summers anymore. I’m aware
he can’t rap about his “come
up” stage forever, but his success
does not excuse his lack of
giving us more of the powerful
bars he once was able to deliver.
The hardest
thing for fans
to understand is
that Kanye is an
artist and he will
drop what he
wants to drop
and say what he wants to say
solely because that’s his vision,
whether it pleases the public or
not. I’ll still love Kanye through
all the narcissistically charged
stunts, Twitter rants and the
Tidal plugs because that’s what
you do when you ride for your
favorite musical genius that has
already done so much for
the world.

he’s becoming the person he
said he never would become
that cannot and should not
be discredited. However, the
lackluster execution of the
actual storyline along with the
dearth of cohesion and flow as a
project was disheartening to see
from someone the GOAT..
Am I corny for yearning
to see that pink polo Kanye
again and preferring that over
bejeweled-mask-wearing Kanye?
I do realize that all artists must
evolve. He remains on his mission of breaking artistic barriers
and inspiring the world, but he’s
ultimately lost the humility he
started with, which is expected

… But I’m still never
gonna cop the Kimoji
app no matter how
many times he tells us
to.

1) When a person is dressed very well or looks good
2) Having sex or messing around with
Word 1 |wərd| noun
Understood; I agree
Poppin 1 |päp| verb (pops, popping, popped)
As in, “what’s up?” or “what’s going on?”
Fresh1 |freSH| adjective
Orginial, cool, nice, “the shit”
O.P.P.1 |oopepe| noun
Stands for “Other People’s Pussy/Other People’s Penis.” First
used by Naughty by Nature in the song “O.P.P.”
Yo Mama1 |yo ˈmämə| noun
A come back usually used when you can’t think of anything to say.
Crew1 |kroo| noun [ treated as sing. or pl. ]
Gang, set
Yo1 |yō| exclam. informal
Another way of saying “hey” or “hi”
Hoochie1 |hooCHe| (also hootch) noun. informal
A women usually defined as being promiscuous or otherwise a slut

new
school

Fire 1 |fīr| adjective

Sensational, extremely remarkable, captivating.

Lit 1 |līt| noun

1) When something is turned up or popping
2) Extremely intoxicated
Wavy 1 |ˈwāvē| adjective (wavier, waviest)
To be fly, impressively dressed
Turn Up1 |ˈtərn ˌəp| verb
To get loose, wild
Yolo1 |yō lō | exclam. informal
Acronym for “You Only Live Once.” Usually an excuse to do
something stupid. Popularized by Drake in the song “The Motto”.

both
10 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

Dope1 |dōp| adjective
Fly, cool, etc.

Tidal is the Nickelback of Music Streaming

By Arena Jimenez

Ever since Jay-Z, along

with several other prominent
artists, came out with Tidal
last year, the artist-owned
music streaming service has
faced heavy criticism. On the
surface, Tidal seemed like a
brilliant idea. It is artist-owned
and claims to pay the highest
share of royalties to artists and
songwriters within the market
of music streaming services.
Tidal also claims to provide the
highest audio quality in order
for users to listen to music in
the way that it was originally
meant to be heard. So, why
would anyone hate on it?
There’s surprisingly a myriad
of reasons, but the biggest
obstacle was the price. Tidal
HiFi is $19.99 dollars a
month. In comparison, the

already established and much
appreciated music streaming
service, Spotify is $9.99. Apple
Music, which came later, is
also $9.99 dollars per month.
This is a stagnant difference
that rubbed a lot of people the
wrong way. The whole thing just
seemed… greedy. I absolutely
believe in an artist’s right to get
paid for their work, especially
when said work provides joy
to so many people. However,
something about sitting in a
dorm room struggling to study
for a test without having to pay
for the textbook and watching
millionaires such as Madonna,
Chris Martin and Alicia Keys
stand on that blue ass stage and
demand for double the amount
of money in exchange for
“higher quality” did not sit right
with me, and I was not alone. In

addition to this, the artists who
own Tidal are so invested in the
service that they often use the
app to stream their new material
exclusively. This was especially
stressful for me when “Feelin’
Myself ” came out and I couldn’t
find anything but teasers, gifs
and extremely low quality
versions of the video. I actually
considered paying for the service
which only made me that much
more annoyed by its existence.
It happened again with “The
Life of Pablo” and it will happen
again with Beyoncé’s next
album. Ultimately, this incessant
exclusivity just makes the public
wish that Tidal didn’t exist so
that we’re able to watch Nicki
and Bey throw French fries at
each other on YouTube, as God
intended.
11

Damian Lillard is the Best
Rapper in NBA History.
...Sorry Shaq.

I

t’s no secret that there has always been a
deep relationship between musicians and
athletes. Entertainment and sports simply
go hand in hand, but the connection
between basketball and hip-hop is much
more special than any other genre and sport.
The two cultures blend together naturally. We
always tend to see rappers hanging with players
at nightclubs after games, and in exchange we see
players make cameos in music videos. It’s even
normal for artists to name-drop some of their
favorite athletes in songs. Any follower of hip-hop
and basketball has probably heard the popular
phrase several times before: “rappers wanna be
ballers, and ballers wanna be rappers.”
This proves to be true time and time again,
as a multitude of NBA players tried to crossover
into the rap game (pun intended), to test their pen
and show off their skills on the mic. Unfortunately,
most of the superstars we love to watch on the
hardwood end up dropping tracks filled with corny
lyrics highlighted by elementary flows and hooks
12 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

that just prove to be cringe worthy. Kobe Bryant,
Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, and sadly even Allen
Iverson were all examples of hoop stars that had
short-lived music careers due to the weak content
that they put out. What’s even more unfitting is that
the new generation players like Lance Stephenson,
Lou Williams and Kevin Durant are following in
those same footsteps of ballers in the booth who
should just probably stick to their day job.
To be fair, not every single NBA player is
automatically terrible behind the mic when they
try. Players like Stephen Jackson, Chris Webber
and Iman Shumpert have proven that they can
hold their own on a beat and garner a little success
and respect with their rap skills.
However, there is one player today that is
repeatedly being regarded as the best rapper that
the NBA has ever produced, and his name is
Damian Lillard. He plays for the Portland Trail
Blazers and is considered to be one of the best
point guards in the NBA today. This guy is special,
and what makes him different from all of the other

players is that this man can legit rap. Before Lillard He possesses creative wordplay, impressive rhyme
emerged onto the scene, Shaq was considered to schemes, and a smooth delivery laced with a calm
be the NBA’s biggest rap star ever, due his debut and mature flow. After his short performance on
album going platinum, and because the fact that he “Sway In The Morning”, Lillard started to drop
recorded with Jay-Z and Biggie. However, despite his own tracks through his Soundcloud profile.
his major success, Shaq was actually awful behind His singles, “Full Stomach”, “Tell Me Why” and
the mic, and he even admitted himself that his “Soldier in the Game” are all songs that show his
songs were ridiculously corny and flat out wack.
versatility and potential as an artist.
But Damian Lillard, or Dame D.O.L.L.A. as
However, Dame’s latest track “Bigger Than
he likes to go by, is becoming extremely popular
Us”, featuring Paul Rey, is the concrete evidence
and well liked for his rap abilities, and many even
that shows us why he is just different and above
wonder if he is a better rapper than basketball
his fellow NBA brethren when it comes to making
player. Lillard’s hidden talent was discovered
music. The song is about shedding light to the
when he decided to launch a weekly challenge
social injustices that African Americans face daily,
to his fans and fellow NBA players on Instagram
highlighting most specifically police brutality.
labeled “4 Bar Fridays” prior to the start of the
Lillard raps a message of love, peace and unity that
2013-2014 NBA season. The challenge was
brings people together to fight and rise above such
for individuals to upload themselves spitting
injustices. The song, along with a heart-warming
their best four bars, while including the hashtag
music video, was released on Martin Luther King
#4barfriday when
Jr. Day. “It touches
submitting the post.
“I swear sports and music on a lot of things that
The top four individuals
are going on around
are so synonymous, cause us, stuff that affects
with the best verses
would be highlighted
everybody,” Lillard
we wanna be them, and
every week. The trend
said. “Whether that’s
they wanna be us”
quickly took IG by
positive or negative,
storm, with thousands
however you want
- Drake on “Thank Me Now”
of fans from around
to look at it. It just
the country (me included) uploading their best
kind of raises awareness, lets us know that it’s
verses every week. Even fellow NBA stars like
right there in our faces happening. It’s only facts.
Paul George, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes
It’s not disrespectful. It’s not overly aggressive. It’s
and Lebron James stepped up to the challenge,
just facts.”
submitting their best bars.
Damian Lillard is unique. He has the attention
Lillard’s consistently impressive 4 Bar Friday
and respect from notable hip-hop figures and
uploads eventually got the attention of several
media outlets in the game, and has a legitimate
notable hip-hop media outlets, and on February
buzz about his music, which is very rare for an
13th, 2015 he was invited to Shade 45’s “Sway
NBA player. He is currently having the best
In The Morning Radio Show” to show off some
season of his pro career and is still evolving as
of his skills. He spit a hard-hitting verse over a
a player. However, if he decided to hang up his
classic “Dead Presidents” beat that highlighted the
sneakers to pick up a mic, no one would ridicule
struggles of his rough upbringing in Oakland. His
him or cringe at his attempts because he actually
verse impressed Sway so much that it prompted
has what it takes to be a successful artist. It’s safe
him to go into his now signature “ I hate all you
to say that he will continue to be a problem for
wack rappers speech”, claiming that Dame was
players on the court and rappers in the game.
rapping better than a lot of the rappers in the
game today. Lillard’s rap ended up generating over
four million views on YouTube, making it one of
the most viewed videos on the station’s channel.
It surpassed other freestyles from artists like Tyler
the Creator, King Los, Chance The Rapper, and
Meek Mill.
Sway’s statement is by no means exaggerated.
Lillard shows that he is different from other
“rapletes” because of how authentic he sounds.
by: Joel Berakah
13

“I Got a DM From
Kanye West...”

photo: Dina Ben-Nissan

Mixtape Mag’s Chloe Martin sat down with SU junior, Joel Berakah, to find out how in
Yeezus’s name did he know what T.L.O.P. meant before anyone else did. Before his album
dropped, Kanye West told his Twitter followers if anyone could guess what the album title
was, they would win Yeezy’s and tickets. Joel is a SU Political Science Major from Boston, MA.

14 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

Chloe: So you guessed Kanye’s album title before it was
released. How, Sway?
Joel: I knew “T.L.O.P.” had something to do with Pablo from the jump
because of a lecture he gave at Oxford. He said he wanted to be like
Pablo Picasso. Then, in the song “No More Parties in L.A.”, he mentioned
“I feel like Pablo”. I had a lot of bullshit guesses. That was actually my last
guess. I tweeted it then went to bed.
CM: How did you find out you guessed right?
JB: Couple days after tweeting, man, I was just tired as hell on the bus.
Then, he tweeted “The Life of Pablo.” From there I was tweeting like crazy
trying to get people to retweet my tweet. It was a crazy process.
CM: Tell me more about the process of trying to get Kanye to
see your tweet
JB: That shit was insane. When he announced the title I was on Instagram and Twitter like crazy asking people for help and to retweet it. A
lot of random people retweeted for me. I tried tweeting Team Kanye,
Charlamagne, and Angela Yee. I got a good amount of people to tweet
for me, like 150 retweets on the first tweet, couple hundred on the next,
and that’s when his rep saw it.
CM: How did his reps reach out to you?
JB: One of Kanye’s reps, Elon Rutberg, creative director for DONDA, said
“anyone who guessed the right answer DM me and send a link with the
URL of the tweet. No PhotoShop, no screenshots, it has to be the link to
be legit.” I had to wait like two or three days, anxious as hell. Then, on a
Thursday at like 4am, I got a DM from Kanye! I didn’t sleep that night.
CM: A DM from Kanye. Wow. What did he say?
JB: He said congrats to us and said he was going to email us using a
private email. He was like “this is my private email, these are private
instructions, if any of this leaks none of you guys are getting anything.”
CM: So what exactly did you win?
JB: Yeezy’s and tickets for a concert or event at a later date.
CM: Did you get your Yeezy’s?
JB: The wait was crazy, like 2 and a half weeks. We had to be confirmed
to be legit like 3 or 4 times. I might not ever wear them, or only take
them out on special occasions.
CM: How did it feel to get your 15 minutes of fame?
JB: I felt like the man. People kept trying to get me to sell the shoes and
everything. I ain’t even take them out the box yet.
CM: What did it mean to you to win?
JB: It meant everything. I’ve been a Kanye fan damn near my whole life.
Since like 2nd grade.
15

rap
Are all
of these
“beefs”
lately
anywhere
near
genuine?
16 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

By Kemet High

rhslbejf

beef
I’m not talking Nas vs. Hov or Tupac vs. Biggie. I’m talking publicity stunts and
album promotion beefs like Drake vs. Meek. I’m refusing to believe any of it.
These so-called “beefs” all captured our attention and had us scrolling through
the details. You could say that they were natural, but looking into them a little
deeper, it was obvious they were all plots. Let me give you 5 examples.

METRO BOOMIN VS. YOUNG THUG
Future and his main producer, Metro, were still
riding the wave of stardom after they set the summer off with some crazy music. In early November,
artists were blessing us with drop after drop, and
Metro thought Future was the one who ticked it
all off. He took to Twitter with this opinion and
one of his homeboys, Young Thug, publicly disagreed. These two were supposedly working on
“Metro Thuggin’”, a collaborative mixtape. Young
Thug tagged Metro and asked who he was referring to before telling him to put some names in his
tweets. Next, here they go, a back and forth subbing contest that resulted into physical threats by
Thug saying “ima beat the shit out of u fool”. Next
thing we know, “Hercules” dropped. Come on
now. First of all, Atlanta’s biggest artists are rocking together, hence the collaborations that we keep
getting, so after Metro’s and Thug’s surfaced, why
would they get into a fight? They’re the ones who
said they were working so I’m sure if they had any
disagreements, they would have no choice but to
settle it. Moreover, Atlanta rappers have respect for
the people that were doing it before them, so it was
extremely odd for Thug to try and disrespect Future. Lastly, why would they argue on Twitter as if
they don’t have each other’s numbers and addresses? After catching attention from eager listeners all

over, they hit us with yet another new track. If you
believed everything that preceded, you should feel
fooled. These men have no beef, they just found a
way to gain attention. Smart, but obviously fake.
NICKI MINAJ VS. MILEY CYRUS
Shout-out to MTV for booking one of the most
interesting hosts of 2015: Miley Cyrus. The 2015
VMA’s were definitely noteworthy because of this
unpredictable host. When Miley was asked about
the summer bash between Nicki Minaj and Taylor
Swift, she stayed real. In the summer, Nicki voiced
her disagreement that “Anaconda” should’ve been
nominated for “Video of the Year” instead of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”. During an interview a few
days before the VMA’s, Miley stated: “What I read
sounded very Nicki Minaj, which, if you know,
Nicki Minaj is not too kind.” When Nicki got up
to accept her award for “Best Hip Hop Video”, she
clapped back. Nicki confronted the situation at the
end of her speech saying this: “And now, back to
this bitch that had a lot to say about me the other
day in the press the other day. Miley, what’s good?”
Nothing. If they really had a problem, they were
on the same stage to handle it. Miley clearly doesn’t
care about anything and Nicki claims she’s one of
the realest there is. Am I wrong to think that if this
beef was real, it would’ve been solved immediately
17

eqslcao
due to nothing but time and space? The only results coming out of this “beef ” were the memes.
These two had no real beef and they were obviously
chatting.

KANYE WEST VS. WIZ KHALIFA
Alright, this was probably the funniest one. Kanye
West re-generated his social media account to track
the progress on what he said was going to be “the
album of the life”. With all of this talking, he informed us that he would be changing his album
title from “Swish” to “Waves” and uploaded a track
list with signed cameos from multiple celebrities
such as Swizz Beatz and Fonzworth Bentley. As far
as hip-hop goes, when we hear “waves”, many of
us think of Max B. Wiz voiced that for us all by
tweeting: “Please don’t take the wave” and “Max B
is the wavy one. He created the wave. There is no
wave without him.” These two previously had no
beef, not even when it came to Amber Rose. Then,
when Kanye tried to respect Max B, Wiz dismissed
it and told Ye to hit the “KK”. This man Kanye
took it as a shot towards his wife Kim Kardashian
and made himself “Donkey of the Day”. Kanye responded immediately with this: “Oh n*ggas must
think I’m not petty cause I’m the best that’s ever
made music” and “Like, oh that’s Ye and I can put
his wife’s initials on my twitter @Wizkhalifa” before continuing his rant at Wiz. It wasn’t long until Wiz stepped back in and informed Kanye that
“KK” was indeed weed, not his wife. Kanye’s final
response was “Thank you for the extra promotion.”
Five days later, a picture of Kim K. and Amber
Rose surfaced and all of this “beef ” was immediately gone. Other than a visual, Kanye verbalized this
squash saying he spoke to Wiz and all was good.
There was no real battle, just an elaborate situation
to capitalize off of exactly what Kanye wanted: album promotion.
LIL WAYNE VS. BIRDMAN
Do I even have to introduce the relationship between Birdman and Lil Wayne? Probably not.
Birdman signed Wayne when he was a teenager
and the two haven’t split paths since. Lil Wayne is
still signed to Birdman’s Cash Money Records, but
right before 2015, he made it known that he wanted off of the label. Lil Wayne released to his fans
that the fault is towards Baby and his label by saying this: “To all my fans, I want u to know that my
album won’t and hasn’t been released bekuz Baby
& Cash Money Rec. refuse to release it.” Before
calling himself a prisoner, he preceded by saying

18 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

“I want off this label and nothing to do with these
people but unfortunately it ain’t that easy”. Wayne
then dropped an anticipated free album, “FWA”,
as a makeup project so the marketing worked
out fine. It made sense because the album never
dropped but then we saw the headlines of the two
on stage together as they publically squashed their
beef. The question was whether or not this beef
was real or fake but, in my opinion, the falseness
was obvious. Why would Lil Wayne beef with a
man that he called “daddy”? Their love was so deep
that there are pictures of them kissing, no lie. Why
would Wayne snap on the man who put him on
and why would Baby diss his biggest success? Like
the rest of these battles, it doesn’t really add up.

DRAKE VS. MEEK MILL
Y’all knew this one was coming. Meek Mill messed
around and stepped out of his lane, making him
the biggest clown of 2015. Now, I like Meek Mill
and agree that he’s undoubtedly nice but his career took a huge hit. He did this to himself. After
dropping “Dreams Worth More Than Money”,
Meek got upset when Drake, who was featured,
failed to promote the album. Meek began ranting
on Twitter starting with “Stop comparing me to
drake too… He don’t write his own raps! That’s
why he ain’t tweet my album because we found
out!” Drake responded musically by dropping the
first diss of the series, “Charged Up”. Meek was expected to drop his clap back on Hot 97, hosted by
Funk Master Flex, but flaked. Drake then took this
opportunity to drop another diss, “Back to Back”
which ended up winning a Grammy and being one
of the summer’s hottest anthems. Meek Mill finally responded, dropping “Wanna Know” but, to be
honest, no one cared. The beef was already over at
this point. This conflict was entertaining but when
they dragged it into 2016, it made me question if
anything was genuine. They tried it, both dropping
more disses in “War Pains” and “Summer Sixteen”.
Meek dropped his diss after Drake addressing the
content of Drake’s “Summer Sixteen”. How? Meek
claimed the ghostwriter told him but the reaching continued. The moment Drake said he played
“Back to Back” over Meek’s hotel room, I knew this
was a plot. After their last diss tracks, it was obvious that they were working together to promote
an issue that intrigued us the most as listeners. As
hood as Meek says he is, if Drake was really above
his hotel room, he would’ve handled it. They were
talking nothing but talk…

o

50 Cent 62.50%
Wale 15.63%
Troy Ave 12.50%
The Game 9.38%

Rihanna 38%
The Game 37%
Erykah Badu 25%

best clapbacks
Meek Mill 46%
Kanye West 31%
Azaelia Banks 18%
Iggy 3%

twitter fingers
Dab 40%
Milly Rock 34%
The Whip 18%
Hit Tha Quan 6%

best viral dance

The
Mixxy's
award
show
The Mixtape surveyed
students around
Syracuse University and
here are the results.

excruciatingly long
years since Frank Ocean
dropped that deliciously
golden album, Channel
Orange. He’s made us wait
what seems like a lifetime,
and you know what?
THAT’S OK. I’ve been fucking with Frank Ocean since
the Lonny Breaux days; back when he was wearing
letterman sweaters and shit looking like a Kappa
that stepped out of formation. I suffered through
more than my fair share of Odd Future songs just
to get a taste of that magical crooning voice. I was
crying over my imaginary high school boyfriend to
“Thinkin’ Bout You” a good two years before that
song was ever on an album. According to my iTunes
account, “Novacane” and “American Wedding”
have over 450 plays collectively. I know how it
feels to crave new material by him and I know how
agonizing the wait is, especially because it feels like
he’s teasing us on purpose.
The road to heartbreak started back in 2012 when
in an interview with “The Guardian”, Frank told us he
might not ever make another album. My teenage
world felt shattered. That’s when he really started
to play us. From then on, he’d drop hints about a
second album here and there in interviews and
on his Tumblr account. Do y’all remember when
his little brother linked us to a supposed album
and actually rick-rolled all of us? All the teasing
came to a climax in 2015 when Frank trolled us all
again, writing these words on his Tumblr: “I got two
versions. I got twoooo versions #ISSUE1 #Album3
#JULY2015 #BOYSDONTCRY.” “YASSSSSSS” we all
chanted as we eagerly waited for July.
We should’ve known better. Clearly, July came and
went with no album. The meme-agedon started;
Frank ocean as where is Waldo, Michael Jordan
crying faces everywhere. I can’t even describe it..

Just vision it (or Google it). As
an avid meme connoisseur,
I can say there are some
really great ones. Anyway,
the album never came and
people were very upset and
took their frustrations to social
media. Even though I was
muy disappointed, I had to sit back and look at the
bigger picture.
Frank is human. He owes us nothing. Not. A.
Damn. THING. We should be forever grateful for
the A1 material he has given us over the years.
Seriously, his discography, is a gift from the Gawds,
and we need to be more appreciative. If you’re
really feening that badly for something from him,
just look out for one of the billions of features he
does and listen to it on repeat. Do what I do: don’t
play his album or mixtapes in a year or two then
obsessively binge listen for a few weeks as if it just
dropped. Feels brand new.
In the meantime, get off Frank’s back. Let him live
his life, show up to album listening parties and post
on Tumblr in peace. Rumor has it there’s some new
material floating around out there somewhere from
a secretive album listening party. Go search the
torrent sites for that shit and give your computer the
bubonic plague. Whatever you do, be patient. Give
him time. Y’all so starved for music, y’all getting used
to your favorite rapper dropping new material every
other week, failing to realize that material is straight
basura. #NoShade #SipsTea. Something of “Channel
Orange’s’” caliber takes time. I can guarantee if
Frank ever decides to drop a new album, it’s going
to be life-changing, and if he decides not to ever
bless us with his voice ever again, that’s ok, too. It’s
his life let him do what makes him happy.
By Chloe Martin
21

Tell me about your latest project?
I just finished shooting a cover of Justin Bieber’s song “Love Yourself.” I also am in
the process of shooting my poem “Places” which is about all the places I want to
see. I’m excited about all the work I’m doing lately, I have all these ideas and so it’s
sometimes hard to focus my time on just one. But it’s so close to being released!
Why do you go by the name Casper?
I call myself Casper because growing up a lot of people used to make fun of how
white my skin is. So making it my musician name was me embracing it. No one
thought I could rap growing up because I was the white kid from the suburbs but I
didn’t let it stop me.
How did you get into the music?
I went to a John Mayer Concert when I was eight with my mom and I was blown
away from the guitar. Shortly after, I signed up for lessons and joined the choir and
took voice lessons in high school. Becuase of sports, I dropped the singing. I started rapping and writing raps with my friend Jordan. We called our music group
“Type-O” like the blood, because we wanted our music to be for everyone.
What’s the first song you ever made?
The first song I ever wrote was called “Get High” with my boy CP. We used to just
mess around and rap when we were bored. We called ourselves “The After School
Special”, which is actually the name of my radio station now.
When did you know you wanted to make music?
I signed up for a poetry slam and actually won. So I signed up for another one
and won that one and won two more after that. People would come up to me after
and be like that made me really think. I never thought about it that way. Their
comments motivated me to continue with my work.
Who are some artists that inspire you?
Lil Dicky’s story really inspires me because he left his desk job and followed his
passion for music. I also look up to George the Poet, who’s from the UK. His poetry
has a lot of insightful messages and a hip-hop base. Some other rappers I like are
Nas, J. Cole and Kendrick.
27

monty white
24 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

e

Q&A

by Nina Bracey

Can you tell me about your latest project?
Right now I’m making a trap infused with old school songs. I sampled the song “Sunglasses At Night” by
Corey Hart and I’m adding a new a sound to it.
Who’s your favorite artist?
Right now, I’d say Travis Scott is my favorite performer. He has so much energy and passion when he performs
and I love how the crowd feeds off his energy. If you’re not hyped up and excited about your work no one else
is. I also really like DJ Snake, Tchaimi, and J Cole.
If you could perform with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?
Tupac. His music and his story is just so inspiring. There will never be someone like him again. He definitely
left his mark in hip hop.
When did you start DJing?
It was my freshman year of college and I was watching my fraternity brother DJ from his phone and his
version of DJing was just moving the volume up and down while transitioning songs on YouTube. And I just
thought no way, there has to be a better way to DJ. So I got some money together and bought turntables and
speakers and taught myself how to DJ.
What makes your music different from others?
I feel like I know what people like. I pay a lot of attention to the crowd. People like familiarity. They like old
school songs they can sing along to and jump and down with their friends and sing at the top of their lungs.
I also play all types of music. I don’t stick to just one genre. Usually people are known as a pop artist or a trap
artist and I don’t want to stick to that label. I want to play all types of music that appeals to everyone.
What is your style in music?

I would say trap, deep house and old school. In high school I used to only listen to rap and hip hop. I’ve been
introduced to house music not to long ago and I love it’s vibes. I like to put the two genres together because it
brings two different types of music that are so different to one. And trap gives it that hard feeling.
What’s your go to outfit?
A white tee and jeans. Very simple. I just need something to absorb the
sweat while I’m dancing and turning up.
Is hard to balance school and music?
Yes! I’m struggling so much with that right now because my major is
completely different from music but I find time to practice at least some
point every day.
DJ
Class of 2016
Reppin’: Queens, NY
Major: Biomedical Engineering

Soundcloud: DJ Monty Python

photos: Arthur Chen

25

Q&A

aarick urban
22 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

n

WHEN DID YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH
HIP-HOP?
When I heard “Through The Wire”, yeah, I
guess that’s the first time it made me
feel something.
FAVORITE ARTIST?
Of all time, I would have to say
Kanye, musically.
OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL
I’m kinda in the middle. I fell in love with
music in like the mid-2000s.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AS?
I’m a writer.. a writer that loves music.
It’s all expressing yourself, getting your
experiences, what you’re going through on a
daily basis, your feelings… Just getting
it all out there.
BRING ME BACK TO THE FIRST TRACK
YOU EVER RECORDED.
I was in Nob Hill (apartment complex in
Syracuse) with my cousin and it was a
freestyle over Big Boi’s “Shutter Bug”. We
were playing 2k and you know that was on
the old 2k so I was like, “Yo, I’m about to spit
to this. I’m gonna write to this”. We recorded
it on a Mac Book but then we actually went
to the studio later and put it down. I put it on
Facebook jokingly and it got a lot of feedback.
IF YOU COULD GET A FEATURE BY ANY
ARTIST OTHER THAN KANYE, WHO ARE
YOU PUTTING ON YOUR TRACK?
I would hit up my boy Chance The Rapper.
That man is super talented and I feel like that
gospel-rap vibe is kind of what I’m messing
with too. It’s kinda what the rap game needs,
a mixture of both.
SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Aarick wrote his first book in the summer of
2015. “Generation-I, The Millennial Mindset”
is available now on Amazon.

What made you fall in love with hip-hop?
Hip-hop has really been in my life for a great deal of time. It wasn’t until I
got a chance to check MTV when they were doing music, Suckafree and all
of those freestyles or interviews on 106. Hip-hop is like an art form, there’s a
culture behind. People are expanding and doing classic things.
Favorite producer and artist?
My favorite artist is my favorite producer, Kanye West, solely because of him
being Kanye West and being so nice at production. He has a vision. When
Kanye puts it together, that vision comes out and it’s solely out of his mind.
That’s why it’s so genius.
Do you consider yourself an artist or a producer?
I consider myself a producer. I’d like to think of myself as an artist. Maybe
when the time comes and I start making and marketing a craft out of it but
for right now I’m more of a producer.
Bring me to the first song you recorded.
The very first beat I ever made was terrible. It was maybe about 5 years ago
back in Texas. It was on FL. I kinda went with my heart and my gut but it
didn’t come out how I wanted it. The first song I ever spit on was called “Hit
That Super Mario”. I recorded it in my bedroom on a little condenser mic..
it was so ratchet. I went in the backyard and tried to make a dance for it. My
mom recorded it. It was really embarrassing. (It got 15 million plays though.)
When did you realize you kinda made it?
I took a trip to Africa. I told someone I made music and my name was Eugene
The Dream in Kenya and they recognized me from one of their DJ’s. He
posted one of my vines on his Instagram. Apparently people were bumping
my hit that Super Mario and my American Boy remix. That trip to Africa really
solidified a lot.
You can make a beat for any artist right now, who?
I would probably say Future, either Future or Kendrick. Future would be lit,
with some auto-tune.
Go-to breakfast?
Cinnamon Toast Crunch, with the milk, the cinnamon milk. A nice pancake,
like an iHop pancake with the butter. Some fire bacon and like some yogurt
with some granola.
One element: water, fire, air, or earth?
Earth, I feel like it would be mad cool to be kicking up dirt.
by Kemet High

photos: Dina Ben-Nissan

soundcloud: Eugene The Dream
twitter: @EugeneTheDream
29

photo: Regina Cho

Concert reviews
GREEK UNITY FEST-

Fabolous and DJ Premier
For the 2016 Greek Unity Fest, the OG Swag Champ, along with producer
legend, DJ Premier, reminded ‘Cuse just why the 90’s and 2000’s were times
we should miss. DJ Premier warmed up the crowd by playing arguably the
greatest hip-hop throwbacks we will ever know. Fabolous, who is known
for his ability to maintain longevity in this ever-changing rap game, really
showed ‘Cuse why that’s so. He performed tracks off of his newest project,
“Summertime Shootout”, and also did noteworthy throwbacks such as “Can’t
Let You Go” and “Into You” which had us all thinking of our middle school
baes. He stayed true to his “throwback jersey connoisseur” title by donning
a fresh #5 Syracuse jersey. That night, ‘Cuse’s current situation was definitely
a lituation.

FASHION’S CONSCIENCE- Tory

Lanez

Coming into 2016, Tory Lanez was probably my number one artist to watch for.
Musically, his sound was remarkable and he provided a reason to continue
paying attention to Canada talent. When I got word that he was coming
to ‘Cuse, you couldn’t tell me anything, but after his performance, maybe
I should’ve kept my mouth closed. The fashion show put on by Fashion’s
Conscience was dope as expected but between no DJ, bad song selection,
and extreme waiting time, the performance after was disappointing. At least
he made up for it with a meet and greet but with as long as he took, most
of us were just ready to go home at that point. Tory Lanez is still an amazing
artist but his lack of execution made it seem like I was vouching a little too
hard beforehand.
written by staff
30 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

SIGMA WEEK CONCERT-

Young Thug and
Metro Boomin
On May 25th, headliner Young Thug and opening act Metro
Boomin came to ’Cuse to give us a wild show. Metro started
out his set with extreme hype and crowd interaction then
took to his comfort zone behind the turntables, which is
typical for most DJ acts (except if you’re DJ Esco). Of course
he played fan favorites such as “Thought it Was A Drought”
and “March Madness” and he let us have that “Jumpman”
which features his famous ad-lib “if young Metro don’t
trust you I’m gone shoot you.” His set was concluded by
playing “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and at this point,
Schine went up. The room was ready by the time Thugger
came out. He performed Rich Gang’s hit “Lifestyle” and
shared the stage with Metro while performing “Hercules”
since Metro was on production for that one. He performed
songs off his tape that was just released Slime Season 3
that only a few fans knew the words to and the crowed was
not as hype at this moment compared to the rest of his set.
He concluded the show with arguably one of his strongest
songs, “Best Friend” and the crowd, including myself, went
bananas. Overall, this duo worked extremely well together
and gave us one of the best shows of the year. It feels good
to know Metro trusts ‘Cuse.
photos: Dina Ben-Nissan

31

like they did
From denim on denim, to colorful windbreakers, old
school hip-hop fashion is something that everyone
still tries to emulate, even to this day. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an
homage to one of the freshest and most
influential eras of fashion that this
genre has ever known.

Seen a car full of girls
ain’t no need to tweak.
All you skirts know
what’s up with 213.

35

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like this and like that
and like this and uh. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
like that and like this
and like that and uh.
36 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

37

38 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

In the city of good olâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Watts, In the city, the
city of Compton we
keep it rocking.
39

old
school
If

someone were to say the words “old school
hip-hop”, you’d probably automatically
assume Biggie or Tupac or maybe even NWA
because of the “Straight Outta Compton” movie
that came out last year. These are usually the safest
bets too because of how much they did for the
culture. But why do we never talk about DJ Kool
Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, or Doug E. Fresh? Now
there are several others, of course, but no one ever
knows who they are or what they’ve done. I bet
you didn’t know that Will Smith and DJ Jazzy
Jeff were the first ever rappers to win a Grammy.
Did you? I didn’t think so. Many people think
that the entire history of hip-hop revolves around
Tupac and Biggie, but these are only two grains of
sand on the beach and beaches don’t just have two
grains of sand. It’s an amalgamation of grains of
sand that come together to make the beachfronts
across the… I think ya’ll get the point. But let’s
address the best things to ever come out of hiphop.
Let’s take a moment to talk about the fashion.
Hip-hop is not just the music. It was baggy jeans
and oversized white tees. It was pastel colored
jackets and crop tops - FOR BOTH SEXES. It
was Jheri curls and high tops. Basically, hip-hop
had all the signature looks that everyone wanted
to emulate. People everywhere were trying to
recreate the iconic half-moon step flattop. Adidas
and Nike both own the hip-hop fashion now and
back then, but back then was a whole different
game. It was a lot less conservative and very
flamboyant. “The colors weren’t neutral and there
was no holding back. The more colors, the more
popping.”
Many people forget how proactive artists were
back in the day. Artists were much more liberal
40 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

v

with their music and weren’t afraid to speak their
mind. This is most notably seen with NWA’s song,
“Fuck Tha Police”, whose message is expressed
directly through the title. The iconic LA Riots
were very big for activists across the country, both
in hip-hop and outside of it. Back then, people
used their music to shed light on things that a
lot of people were normally blind to problems
facing the black community. Why the black
community, you ask? Hip-hop was a primarily
black run culture, if not all the way ran by the
black community. So naturally, we would want to
voice our opinions on our problems and troubles
we are facing.
Now, music is prob- wait, IS the most notable
part of hip-hop’s culture history. Everyone always
thinks about music when the phrase “old school
hip-hop” is uttered. Tupac and Biggie being the
main names everyone should know. Dr. Dre,
Snoop, Eminem, N.W.A., Outkast, and maybe
even Will Smith are the second tier of known
artists that come to mind and there are plenty
other artists that I could name but you probably
wouldn’t recognize. The style of music back then
was mainly subtle beats with a verse prominently
heard over the beat. Basically, it was all about
what was being said instead of what we hear. This
doesn’t mean that the beats weren’t good, it’s just
that the importance of production wasn’t a great
as it is today. Hip-hop back then was to tell a
story or send a message.
Old school hip-hop was an amazing time in
history. We found our outlet and we turned it
into the most listened to, emulated, recreated, and
talked about culture to ever be. When it’s all said
and done, no one really set the tone better than
the hip-hop pioneers.

s
There’s

new
school

a certain disdain that comes
with “new school hip-hop”.
From where I’m standing, many people say this
younger generation of rappers tend to only care
about radio hits instead of rapping about the
important things that need attention in society,
such as feminism, social injustice and selfempowerment. People say new school rap comes
off as less raw and overly generic. To an extent,
this is undeniable and the bare fact that conscious
rap has experienced a decline cannot be sugarcoated. However, new school rap encompasses so
much more than flawless beat drops and perfect
dabbing staccatos. I’m here to defend y’all.
There’s an on-going debate about the blurred
line that distinguishes which artists are considered
to be new school. Since countless rap OG’s are
still killing it currently in 2016, there’s really no
formula, so let’s not take everything so literally.
Technological advances have brought forth this
long-lasting wave of auto-tune, intricate beats
and just more sonic control and audible creativity
in general. Since old school hip-hop did not
have these added elements, what we heard was
rappers rapping for the sole sake of rapping. It was
beautiful. The bars were everything. Nowadays,
sometimes the beat is what drives the song instead
of the lyrical content. The field of beat production
has boomed into something so vast and innovative
that a majority of these rappers nowadays
combine forces with their go-to producer and
proudly roll as a duo, and rightfully so.
A fair way to describe the new school hip-hop
look does not exist. We have the Kendrick’s and
the J.Cole’s who are the ones that will show up to
sold-out arenas in their sweats that look slept-in.
We have the overly flashy. There are swag champs

like Fabolous who relentlessly stunt in throwback
jersey gems and Air Mags. Finally, we have a
surplus of people that love to keep that old school
look alive.
Saying hip-hop is dead because new school
artists lack woke lyricism is such an overexhausted claim which only serves to showcase
that the person saying it is simply listening to the
wrong artists. It is completely okay to bump the
Future’s, Yo Gotti’s and Young Thug’s. Back then,
there was mindless rap with misogynistic lyrics
and incoherent hooks as well. Back then, it wasn’t
okay to take these messages to heart and allow
them to guide your lifestyle either. You think
taking somebody’s girl is a new concept? As long
as listeners approach today’s music with a similar
filter, minds will not be poisoned. It’s always been
this way if you really think about it.
In a society with such fluid and ever-changing
norms, of course standards will change.
Appreciating old school hip-hop is intensely
necessary because it’s important to acknowledge
how this hip-hop culture came to be. However,
this appreciation never has to be done at the
expense of not crediting new school hip-hop as
the blossoming era it truly is.
By Larry Mikanga and Regina Cho

THE DECLINE OF CONSCIOUS RAP: WE TO BLAME
If we look at hip-hop today, it’s clear that there has
been a decline in conscious rap or at least a decline in
the attention that we give it. There are a lot of things
that we can blame it on, but one of my favorites: the
Millennials. Yeah, I know these are my own people, but
I’ve been mad at y’all for a minute. You guys have been
so obsessed with beat drops that you’ve forgotten to
assess the content. I took into consideration that we are

42 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

a party generation. We like to go out and dance and dab
with all our friends, and maybe we can’t do that to Mos
Def or Public Enemy. You’re probably wondering why
I’m blaming us. We have a lot of say in what is currently
the most popular sound out. We show the industry what
we like based on the number of times we play it, the
albums that we “buy” (we both know we ain’t about that
buying music life, don’t play), and the free publicity we

ALLAN KINGDOM
WINNIPEG

TORY LANEZ
JAZZ CARTIER
NAV
BELLY
DVSN

TINK

FAISAL RHAMAN
TOSHEEM
SYRACUSE

DESIIGNER
KIRK KNIGHT
NYEMIAH SUPREME
BAS
DAVE EAST

TORONTO

NEW YORK, NY

LIL UZI VERT
AR-AB
TIERRA WACK
PNB ROCK
LIL DICKY

SZA

ST. LOUIS

YG TUT
ISAIAH RASHAD
CHATTANOOGA

POST MALONE
DALLAS

YOUNG GREATNESS

PHILADELPHIA

RICH THE KID
BANKROLL FRESH
RAURY
SCOTTY ATL
PLAYBOY CARTI
ATLANTA

NEW ORLEANS

KODAK BLACK

POMPANO BEACH

give artists via social media. What we say has an effect
on what is put out. Look at the number of careers that
we fucked up and the rappers that we’re not allowing to
come back,like Soulja Boy and Tyga.
I understand good music is good music, and we can
never deny that, but the popularity of it depends on
us. We are a “beat drop” generation. Lyrics are slowly
becoming less important for a majority of us. Because
of this, that social criticism seen in rap from the 90’s
has dissipated. I’m not at all saying that it is completely
gone, considering we still have artists like Joey Bada$$,

J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Still, the presence is not as
strong as it used to be when Tupac and Krs-One were
in play (R.I.P Pac). This is not because there is a lack of
conscious rappers out there. It’s because the industry is
feeding our thirst to party instead of pushing for socially
critical rappers. Understand this is coming from a person
who has “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and “Scholarships” on
repeat, so I understand why we love these Future’s and
Young Thug’s, but I’m asking for us to support a balance.
Music can change the world and more support should
be given to the artists that also want to change it.
By Joanna Agwanda

towards black individuals has caused this social media
movement to be born and social media has been
our main telescope into this issue. This has revived
the notion of black pride similar to the black power
movement in the 1950’s to late 1960’s. Artists have also
taken a stand in this movement of #BlackLivesMatter
and the celebration of black pride.
On February 6th 2016, Beyoncé released her single
“Formation” along with the official music video. The
following day she performed that song at the 2016
Super Bowl. Everything from her lyrics to her dancer’s
outfits were celebrations of black pride. All of her
dancers were dressed as Black Panthers with afros and
her performance doubled as a salute to this group,
considering it was the 50th anniversary of
the movement.
Bey released the song the day Trayvon Martin,
the 17-year-old boy who was fatally shot by police
officer George Zimmerman, would have celebrated
his birthday. Her lyrics alone emphasize black
empowerment. “I like my baby heir with baby hair
and afros / I like my negro nose with Jackson Five
nostrils”. Beyoncé had received a lot of backlash for
letting her daughter, Blue Ivy, wear her hair natural.
Black girls and women everywhere still continue to get
44 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

backlash for wearing their natural hair. Black people
have gotten teased and bullied over their wider noses
and voluminous hair and Beyoncé is unapologetically
flaunting these features and putting them in a
positive note.
The music video to “Formation” also emphasized
black pride and criticized police. She starts it off
standing on a police car in a flood, representing New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Scenes are shown
of the flood. The government was criticized for their
response to the hurricane. 67% of New Orlean’s
residents were African American. Her dancers all had
afros in the music video, a form of black empowerment
as many black people in the 70s wore afros to
demonstrate their black pride. There’s a scene where a
man is holding up a newspaper with a picture of Martin
Luther King with the headline “More Than A Dreamer”
as well as a scene in a black church. Christianity has
been one of the foundations of black communities. She
showcases a scene where a little black boy is dancing
in front of a group of policemen. At the end, he has
them all raise their hands up. This is a reference to the
“Hand’s up, Don’t Shoot” movement that was created
after Michael Brown was shot and killed by police
officer Darren Wilson in 2014. On a white wall, “Stop
Shooting Us” is written in spray paint as a reference to

all the police shootings of black individuals happening
in recent years. The video ends with her on top of the
police car sinking into the water. This is symbolism for
the negative portrayal of police after the increase in
police brutality.
In the rap world, Kendrick Lamar has been in the
forefront of emphasizing black pride, criticizing the
police force and speaking out about social injustice.
His performance of “Blacker The Berry” and “Alright” at
the 2016 Grammy’s was seen as a bold performance
of black empowerment. It starts off with him and the
rest of his dancers coming out in chains. His band is in
jail cells. It already represents the struggle black men
have gone through and still go through, from slavery to
imprisonment. He starts off with the lyrics:

“You hate me don’t you?

My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round and wide.

“

You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture. You’re
fuckin’ evil I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey.
You vandalize my perception but can’t take style from me.

”My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round
and wide. You hate me don’t you? You hate my people,
your plan is to terminate my culture. You’re fuckin’ evil
I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey. You
vandalize my perception but can’t take style from me”.
This right here shows how he is grateful for his
features no matter the judgment. He embraces his
African roots. He wants the world to know that although
his people are being killed unjustly, he’s still proud
of who he is. After this, his dancers are dressed in
traditional African clothing and dance freely. Kendrick’s
song “Alright” is about the black community keeping
their heads up despite the multiple killings hurting the
community. This has been an uplifting and incredibly
influential song that is being chanted at protests all
across the nation.
Artists becoming involved in social issues provides a
risk, as their fan bases may not always agree with their
beliefs and the public will always provide backlash. It
becomes a double-edged sword. Hip-hop’s core values
are based on black pride and empowerment. We need
artists like Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar to be the

voice of this generation.

45

“Eazy-E
taught us
that AIDS
was real...”
- Ice Cube

By Vee Navarro

On one end, institutions such
as Syracuse University’s Health
Center and Office of Health
Promotions “encourage”
students to wear condoms and
take free HIV/Aids tests, but on
the other end, the music that
students listen to obnoxiously
glorifies unhealthy sex-habits.
These habits, such as having
unprotected sex with strangers
and lacking establishment of
consent prior to engaging in sex
are often times/most obnoxiously
glorified by the lyrics of most
hip-hop songs.
48% of the people diagnosed
with AIDS in the United States are
African-American.
AIDS is the 6th Leading cause of
death for people ages 25 to 44.
HIV was the 8th leading cause of
46 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

death among Hispanics/Latinos
between the ages 25 to 34.
In relation to hip-hop, it is okay
to talk about sex when it entails
having fucked-up and sloppy sex
with people we know little-tonothing about, but it is not okay
to talk about sex when it entails
Plan B, STI’s, and HIV/AIDS. You
cannot encourage unhealthy sex
habits and then not talk about the
consequences these actions can
bring upon us, our families, and
our communities. It’s important
for the hip-hop/rap communities
to recognize that the people
listening to their music are often
members of communities that,
statistically speaking, are heavily
impacted by these issues. This
conversation needs to go beyond
the next hip-hop artist that
gets affected. We need to stop
talking about this shit like it can’t
affect us; the stats are there and
this is obviously impacting our
communities. As hip-hop heads,
we need to demand and voice the
need to redefine the way in which
sex is being spoken about.

The Resurgence of Rap-Singing
By Juan Buena

Let’s go back to the 90s:

If you rewind 15 years or so, Hip-Hop wasn’t as “melodic” as it became around the
end of the 2000’s. Don’t get it twisted, rappers have and always will incorporate
melodic elements into their music, but those melodies have never been the focal
point of a song like they are now. Singing used to only be used for the hooks or
the occasional bridge, not whole verses. That just wasn’t a rapper’s image at the
time. Take Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend”, he rapped the verses and sang the hook
over a simple beat and Freddie Scott sample from the 60s. However, the core of
that song still rested within the bars of his verses. More so than Biz, Lauryn Hill
and André 3000 are notable for their use of singing throughout their songs. Their
music didn’t follow the status quo of hard bars and a hook; they weaved smooth
melodies within their choruses and verses. These artists were a preview of how
creative you could get within the genre.

Welcome to Heartbreak:

The mid-2000’s was the era of ringtone, bling-bling rap and Kanye opened up the
exit lane. It’s been nearly eight years since Kanye West released “808’s & Heartbreaks” on a cold Friday on the 24th of November, but its legacy still carries into
today. Sure, singing was used in Hip-Hop way before 2008 when Mr. West was
carving up the status quo, but not in the same capacity or vulnerability that soon
came after the decade’s end. We left that era but entered another one that featured
rappers themselves singing and experimenting with new, sonically-daring sounds
for the genre. Auto-tune was being used more prominently than ever before
thanks to the T-Pain’s work. The precedent that these two set opened up the gate
for many big artists that we have today. The fact that a multi-platinum, Grammy
award winning rapper like Kanye can go in a completely different direction with a
whole album, as opposed to one or two songs, showed that it was okay for rappers,
to do something new.

… And Nothing Was the Same:

It wasn’t just the song structure that changed in Hip-Hop, but the subject matter
as well. You could make the argument that without Kanye, there’s no Kid Cudi,
and without those two switching up the genre like they did, the rappers we have
today might not sound the same or have the same type of subject matter in their
songs. Braggadocios rap is no longer the norm, nor is it expected. ‘Ye and Cudi
showed vulnerability in their albums (“808’s & Heartbreak”/”Man on the Moon”
respectively) that was unexpected for rappers. The moody, introspective music
that we’ve become accustomed to from the Drake’s and the Weeknd’s of the world
came from the dark experiences that gave us “808’s” and “Man on The Moon”. At
the same time, those two albums helped open the lanes for the buttery melodies
of Young Thug and Future, whose showcase flows are some of the more attractive
components of their songs. Their voices are the key parts of their melodies because
they use them like instruments, but at the same time, they’re still rapping. HipHop itself is more creatively charged because of the resurgence of rap-singing. This
resurgence has lead to an emergence of a larger mix of sounds, subject matter, and
overall creativity in the genre that hasn’t been heard before.
47

Drake Conspira

48 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

acy

Is Drake planning his suicide?
We’ve found the clues.

Many people blame Drake for
the fake people coming into the
either not having any purpose
studio and that he feels really
behind his music or not sending alone and he needs his privacy
a message to his listeners other
back, but he isn’t able to get it
than how he started from the
back. Lastly, in “Outro”, there
bottom, and now he’s here.
is a moment that many people
While many of us are okay with
overlook or think too innocentknowing that his “whole team
ly about where Drake asks his
is fucking here”, it has become
producer, 40, whether they are
apparent that his whole “live for
done or not. 40 responds back
the moment” style of rap is a bit
saying “I don’t know, are we?”
more morbid than we are taking to which Drake doesn’t respond
it. I, personally, didn’t realize
to. We know he wasn’t done
what he was trying to tell us
making music, so why was it
until after
hard for
If You’re
him to just
Reading “Views From The 6 will say “no”?
This It’s be Drake’s last project” Drake’s
Too Late.
debut
Drake is planning his suicide.
studio album, “Thank Me LatWhether it be metaphorical or
er”, expresses a more confident
literal, his death is imminent.
Drake. He’s more assertive and
Let’s delve deeper into the 6
secure than in his previous
God’s brain by running through
project. He still holds on to the
each of his works, starting in
“lovestruck” theme but he does
2009 with “So Far Gone”.
it in more of a way of reconciliWhile SFG seems like a lightation. He shows both regret and
hearted first trip into Drake’s
relief. By the end of the album,
personal life (because he takes
he gives himself an ego boost by
us on so many), this is actually
taking back the album’s request
the first glimpse to his fragile
and telling everyone that they
psyche. We are introduced to
can “thank him now” instead
a vulnerable Aubrey Graham
of later. This album shows his
who at first seems like any other
strength and appreciation he
lovestruck guy, however, that’s
has with himself. He’s sure
not the case in some cases where that what he has done deserves
he shows a glimpse of strength
recognition from his peers.
and boldness. The big culprit
“Take Care”. Need I say
in this mixtape is the Kanye
anymore about this one? This
inspired “Say What’s Real”. He
album probably is the biggest
talks about how he’s sick of all
culprit in showing how fragile,
By Larry Mikanga
49

if not broken, Aubrey really is
(and yes, I will refer to him as
Aubrey in this section). The
title of the first song, “Over My
Dead Body”, gives us a pretty
good reason that Aubrey had
come to terms with the topic of
death. This album has, arguably,
the saddest song of his career,
“Marvin’s Room”. At times,
this album strays a little from
the melancholy persona it sets
at the start, but we can still feel
the pain Aubrey has felt in this
album. The infamous phrase,
YOLO, originated from this
album. “You Only Live Once”.
I think this would be the appropriate spot to put the thinking
emoji.
“Nothing Was The Same” is
my least favorite Drake project.
The album was less about the
words and more about the
production. NWTS marked
the changing point in Drake’s
career. He decided to stop being
the sad boy always stressing
about girls he’s either been with
or couldn’t get with. This was
our first glimpse of a Drake we
only saw short spurts of, one
that was over confident and
ready for that action. People,
when in the face of death or
when fully aware they are about
to die, tend to get a lot more
confident because they have
nothing to lose. “Hold On,
We’re Going Home”, the album’s biggest piece of evidence,
basically says that we’re coming
to the end of our journey, just
hold on a little longer. We’ve
been good so far, thanking
him for his contributions and
accompanying him on this
50 Spring 2016 THE MIXTAPE

road, and we are almost done,
whether we like it or not.
“If You’re Reading This, It’s
Too Late” was the moment
many people caught on to the
suicidal trend in his music. The
main reason being the title, of
course. The second reason being
that in the intro, he is basically
foreshadowing his death by saying “if I die, I’m a legend”. He’s
set his career up so that no one
will forget him even if he were
to die at this moment. Also, the
Drake we see on this project is
the one we saw on NWTS, but
with a little more edge, partially
due to him recruiting Quentin
Miller as a co-writer for several
tracks. “Views From The 6”
will be Drake’s last project if
everything goes in the direction
I envision it going. When you
bury someone, you bury them

6 feet under the ground. It can
also be viewed (see what I did
there?) like he’s standing on the
6th floor of a building ready to
jump. Time and content will
only tell. Now that you guys
can look at these projects under
a different light, I’m going to
make this last statement brief
and in the form of a note: “If
you’re reading this, it’s too late.
Nothing was the same after I
decided to join the rap game
and get big. For those of you
that wished to thank me later,
just know that your appreciation was too late because we
were so far gone down the road
for it to matter anymore. I only
have one last thing to say to
those of you who have stuck
through with me to the end,
take care.”